Improved water levels lead to fewer restrictions

Customers of the North Texas Municipal Water District can now water their lawns once every week, as opposed to waiting every other week.

Officials agreed to ease off of their Stage 3 Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan after meeting Thursday.

Although the district still cannot access 28 percent of the total raw water supply from Lake Texoma because of the zebra mussel infestation, recent rainstorms helped fill Lakes Lavon and Cooper Lake to near or above normal levels.

But the roughly 1.6 million residents in the service area are still encouraged to be cautious with their water use. Nearly all of Collin, Kaufman and Rockwall counties are serviced by the district, as well as portions of Dallas, Denton, Hopkins, Hunt and Rains counties. Visit www.ntmwd.com for more information.